PM gets serious on ‘war crimes’

AN explosive report into allegations of war crimes by Australian troops will be taken “very seriously” by the government, Scott Morrison has said.

Defence chief Angus Campbell has received the report from the inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force, who in 2016 was tasked with investigating dozens of incidents of alleged unlawful killings in Afghanistan from 2005 until that year.

“It is a very, very serious issue and the government will be taking it very seriously,” the Prime Minister said on Saturday.

“We will be abiding by the proper legal and institutional processes that are appropriate here.”

Asked what level of information the public would be allowed to see, Mr Morrison said he would have more to say about that next week.

“At this stage, though, the (chief of the Defence Force) has received the report. It goes to highly sensitive matters,” Mr Morrison said.

“It is important that we run a process here that respects the integrity of our defence forces, that upholds the standard all Australians would expect of the defence forces, and to ensure people are treated fairly in that process as well.”

The Defence inspectorgeneral has confirmed in its most recent annual report that at least 55 separate incidents involving alleged law breaches during the war have been examined.

These involved allegations of “predominantly unlawful killings” and cruel treatment by defence personnel.